New York, New York
— March 20, 2026

Markets Are Sliding Toward “Correction” Territory, But Energy Isn’t Listening

February 25th was basically the last time the Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P 500 felt like they were sitting at (or near) their highs.

Fast forward just three weeks, and the vibe has completely changed. We’re not officially in a correction yet across the board, but we’re approaching it fast:

• Dow: down ~9% from the “50k” moment
• S&P 500: about 7.25% off its ~7,000 high
• Nasdaq: down about 10% from ~24k

For clarity: Wall Street typically defines a correction as a 10%–20% decline from a recent peak.

So yeah, a lot of people are losing money. And the pain can show up quickly. For example, today we saw about $1T of market cap evaporate across equities in a single session.

Its not all red out there though…

---

One Sector Has Been Ignoring the Selloff: Energy

While the broader market bleeds, Energy has been ripping with the issues in the Strait of Hormuz.

We ran a screen of the top 100 best-performing stocks in March (minimum $1B market cap) and the result was wild:

51 out of the top 100 were Energy. Talk about a rotation.

---

The XLE Problem: Great exposure, but mega-cap heavy

We currently own XLE, and it’s done well. But here’s the catch: XLE is basically Exxon + Chevron with accessories.

Roughly 40% of XLE is just Exxon and Chevron, which means you’re getting a lot of mega-cap energy exposure, but you may be missing some of the sharper moves happening in smaller and mid-sized names.

And that matters because in our March screen, several of the smaller energy names are up 10%–20%+ (and some much more) over a short window.

To give you a flavor of what “Energy leadership” looked like in our top-gainers list, here are a few of the top Energy movers from the screen (March gainers, $1B+ market cap):

• SOC (Sable Offshore) — +99%
• AESI (Atlas Energy Solutions) — +37%
• SEI (Solaris Energy Infrastructure) — +34%
• CVI (CVR Energy) — +29%
• VET (Vermilion Energy) — +27%
• EQNR (Equinor) — +26%
• PARR (Par Pacific) — +26%
• KOS (Kosmos Energy) — +24%
• VIST (Vista Energy) — +24%
• CNR (Core Natural Resources) — +23%

That’s the kind of performance you don’t get when the whole market is risk-off… unless something powerful is pulling that sector higher (Iran).

---

If the war-driven and Hormuz-based energy shock continues, here are some ETF angles beyond XLE

If you think the war and energy crisis dynamics (especially anything tied to Hormuz) are going to remain a real driver, and you want exposure beyond mega-caps, here are a few ETFs worth knowing:

• XOP – more exploration & production (tends to be less mega-cap weighted than XLE)
• OIH – oil services (picks-and-shovels for the oil patch)
• PSCE – small-cap energy exposure (more volatile, but more torque)
• IEO – broader U.S. oil & gas producers

Different tools for different risk appetites.

---

Bottom line

In just a few weeks, we went from “new highs” to “correction watch.”

• The indexes are sliding.
• A lot of money is being lost.
• But Energy has been the standout pocket of strength.

The question is all about the geopolitics right now and how long the war in Iran and the Hormuz strait will dominate the market’s performance.

We’ve got the detailed March gainers list for you guys below. Be good!